If cars of the future drive themselves, will they need headlights anymore? How about windows, steering wheels or turn signals? Will seats still need to face forward, or can we redesign interiors to look more like a living room than a stuffy car?
These are the often ideological questions a team of researchers, led by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, will spend the next three years answering.
Autonomous vehicles fundamentally change the driving dynamic, so they’re going to require a new set of federal standards for manufacturers. Instead of waiting to see what happens, the U.S. Department of Transportation has assembled a group of experts to begin sorting through the hypotheticals now.
